March 2011

A lot of things have happened this month for the Van Horn family. Sadly, Ted's father, David Van Horn passed away suddenly on March 14th. He was 69. He lived up in Rhode Island. Ted went up for a few days to make all necessary arrangements. He came back home and then we all drove up to RI for the service that was held on March 21st. Ted's sister, Amy, flew in from Mexico and stayed for a few more days to finish what she could. We were pleased to see relatives that flew in from CA and WI, and many of his close friends and neighbors that knew him well. He just got done having his house renovated and we were told that at least he got to enjoy it for a few weeks. The kids took the news a little hard, especially Alex, who, being the oldest, had a lot of fond memories. Thanksgivings will not be the same anymore without "Papa" (as the kids would call him) being around.

Ted's work has kept him quite busy and it is only going to get busier. The reactor on the soon to be USS CALIFORNIA has been undergoing a lot of testing. His engineers are all working rotating shifts. We get calls at all hours of the night. There are days when Ted spends a full day at work and then has to return later that evening. It reminds me of times years ago, when he worked rotating shift up at KAPL in NY. I could never tell if he was coming or going. Thankfully, those days are over. 

March has been an interesting month weather wise. We've had days where we enjoyed beautiful and warm weather. And, then today we get hit with winter like weather including a lovely sleet storm. The boys have started soccer practices already. Soccer games start on April 2nd. I'm looking forward to watching both Alex and Matthew hit the soccer field. Alex is in a U16 team and Matthew is now playing in a U10 team. Sophia's swim season is coming to an end as her last swim meet will be on April 2nd as well. She did well last week and placed 1st in the 200M Medley Relay (she swam the breaststroke), 2nd in the 50M Breaststroke, 3rd in 200M Freestyle Relay, and 3rd in the 50M Backstroke.

I went camping this weekend with the Cub Scouts. We camped at Newport News Park. We had very nice weather on Friday. But the forecast was not good for Saturday night.  All dens were responsible for doing their own cooking. We had quite a feast on Saturday, not the usual hamburgers or hot dogs deal. Breakfast included scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and mini-muffins. For lunch we made our own subs and also had chips and fresh cut-up fruit. For dinner...let's just say the other dens were envious of us....penne pasta with meatballs, salad, and rolls. My den decided to stay through the campfire program and not camp for Saturday night since temperatures were dipping down to the 30s with rain/sleet by the morning. It was definitely a wise choice.

Matthew will be turning 8 years old on March 31st!!! He is growing like a weed!! He is looking forward to going out to a restaurant of his choice for his birthday.